random thoughts

I recently had a conversation with a couple of people about art school, which has caused me to be rather reflective on the whole experience this week. I can't help but think that while art school really opened my eyes to new and fascinating types of art and really improved my thinking about it, it sure did make me completely neurotic about painting. The thought of ending my 'lapse' from the art world and to start painting again strikes a deep chord of fear in my heart. I don't think art school was a healthy place for me to be in my early 20s, too many overblown, fragile egos competing against one another. And I include the faculty in this assessment.

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I tried to explain cost disease during the same discussion and failed miserably. I failed miserably not only because I was constantly being interrupted but I just explained key concepts of the theory entirely wrong! I need to go back and hit the books again.

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From a graphic design standpoint, scrapbookers have it all wrong. I think I've harped on this before. When displaying artwork or photographs, you want to set up the page to present the artwork without distraction, that means everything else on the page is minimized. The best graphic design is invisible. Well, that's a good general rule of thumb, there are exceptions. Scrapbooking is not one of those exceptions.

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I recently read this article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy email newsletter:

Downturn Spurs New Offerings at Museums

Lean economic times have museums experimenting with creative strategies for getting people through the doors, The New York Times reports as part of a special section of museum stories.

Yoga nights at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a get-together for cyclists at UCLA’s Hammer Museum are among the nontraditional offerings as major museums seek new audiences amid declining endowments, donations, and sales.

“We can’t just be about art anymore,” the Hammer Museum’s director, Ann Philbin, said. “Museums are the new community centers.”

Now, it's the last quote that bothers me. I can understand the problem that museums are facing, but at least we can tie the new community events into the mission of preserving and presenting art somehow, can't we? That statement belies an implicit attitude that art just isn't important anymore. Doesn't seem that much of a stretch (no pun intended) to link the spiritual aspects of yoga to the aesthetic sensibilities of artwork, but to completely downplay the role of artwork entirely... can we say mission drift?

If museums want to be community centers, where's the free wireless, yo?